Feeling in the Pink? - Part 1

Apparently the impresario Ziegfeld gave his dancers expensive silk panties just before they went on stage. When asked by the chorus girls why he wanted them to wear silk panties when no one in the audience would know, he replied ‘Because you’ll know that you’re wearing them. Authentic gemstones of rarity and beauty have the same effect on the people who wear them.

We imagine ourselves as kings and queens, worthy of adornment and celebration. For if we do not believe ourselves to be worthy of merit, surely the universe and its inhabitants will not treat us as such. All too often the coloured bauble has been relegated to the fast-food of the jewellery industry, and like fast food, a mere fleeting satisfaction.My business (and bias) has always been coloured stones and gratefully I have been around long enough to witness a surge in the popularity of these stones.

Bravo to the great, the patron saint, who advocated for coloured stones for decades, until taste and sensibilities matched his ardour. Coloured stones like sapphire, emerald and ruby, and of late, so-called semi-precious stones like amethyst, citrine and tourmaline are the new ‘go to’ stones for many jewelers.

And jewellers are thrilled. It is interesting to note that the Gemological Institute of America has banned the use of the terms ``semi-precious” and “precious” from their nomenclature, as every stone can theoretically be both. A diamond can be as dull as a shag rug and a piece of Iranian turquoise can be priceless.','Feeling in the Pink?